Pew poll: Rich-poor tension eases

Despite the polarizing presidential campaign, Americans see less tension between groups like the rich versus the poor than they did before the election, but they do see a major partisan divide, a Pew survey finds.

The poll, released Thursday, found that 58 percent of those surveyed said there was a “strong” or “very strong” conflict between the rich and poor, down from 66 percent in 2011, despite divisive remarks like Mitt Romney’s comments dismissing 47 percent of Americans as “dependent upon the government.”

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Eighty-one percent of those surveyed see a “strong” or “very strong” divide between Republicans and Democrats, according to Pew.

Fifty-five percent of those surveyed saw such a divide between immigrants and those born in the U.S., down from 62 percent a year ago. Perceptions of strong conflict between young versus older people was also down in the survey, from 34 percent in 2011 to 29 percent. A sense of strong conflict between whites and African Americans went up one point, from 38 percent to 39 percent, according to the survey.

The poll of 2,511 adults was conducted Nov. 28-Dec. 5 and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.2 percentage points.